In the prior art, materials are applied to an object such as the surface of a substrate by a variety of means that include dispensing, depositing, coating, labeling, spraying, wetting, brushing, dripping, flow coating, immersion, screen printing, and so forth.
One of the primary uses of fluid applicators is in the automotive industry where a fluid applicator is used to apply fluids to the edge or edges of a glass substrate such as windshields, moldings, channels, and sunroofs. In the automotive industry a coating of material is deposited on the periphery or marginal edge of a glass or plastic substrate in preparation for the application of an adhesive or sealant bonding the substrate to the vehicle. For vehicle windows, any discontinuities in the deposited coating may affect the ability of the coating to act as a moisture barrier and may affect the strength of the bonding of the window to the vehicle. Thus it is important to uniformly apply the fluid and prevent any discontinuities. The present invention is directed to a notched fluid applicator that uniformly applies a relatively thin layer of fluid with little or no discontinuity to the surface of an object such as a substrate that contains at least one protrusion.